Conventional in-vehicle head restraints perform the function of enhancing passenger safety and are often designed to be attached or integrated into the top of each driver and passenger seat. More specifically, head restraints are designed to limit the rearward movement of the head of an adult occupant relative to their torso, in the instance of a high-speed collision or crash for example, in order to prevent or mitigate whiplash or injury to the passenger's cervical vertebrae.
Many in-vehicle rear passenger seats are able to be adjusted or reclined for comfort, such that they are sat at an approximately 45 degree angle, often referred to as the “slouch” mode or position. When rear-seated passengers are sat in these “slouch” positions, conventional in-vehicle head restraints will only support the passengers head in a position such that they are looking or facing upwards (i.e. towards the inside of the roof of the vehicle), which might be suitable if the passenger is sleeping, for example. However if the rear passenger sat in the “slouch” position wishes to look or face forwards (i.e. in an aft-fore direction) in order to, for example, read a book, look at a laptop screen or look out the front of the vehicle, the conventional in-vehicle head restraint position becomes unsuitable. This is because the seated passenger is required to bend their neck into an unsupported position in order to look or face forwards, which can cause discomfort to the passenger. It is therefore beneficial for in-vehicle head restraints belonging to rear passenger seats to perform a secondary function, unrelated to automotive safety, such as providing a comfortable rest position for the passenger seated in a variety of positions.
In related prior art, passenger seat head restraints use a pivot-point deployment/stowage mechanism in order to move a head rest portion (about a single pivot-point or hinge located on the top part of the housing of the seat-head) into position and provide a comfortable support for the passenger's head. However, once fully deployed, the single pivot-point deployment/stowage mechanism results in significant space wastage. This is because the space beneath the seat's deployed head rest portion, which is rendered unusable, is a significantly large area of space.
It is one object of the present invention to provide a head restraint assembly which improves on the prior art.